Struts and the like



Aug. 1967 A. M KENZIE TABOR 3,337,176

STRUTS AND THE LIKE Filed Feb. 18, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR: ALA/VMc/ff/VZ/E TABUE Bium Aug. 22, 1967 7 Filed Feb. 18, 1965 A. M KENZIETABOR STRUTS AND LIKE 3 Sheets-Sheet INVENTOR:

A. M KENZIE TABOR 3,337,176

STRUTS AND THE LIKE Filed Feb 18, 1965 :5 Sheets-Sheet a United StatesPatent 3,337,176 STRUTS AND THE LIKE Alan McKenzie Tabor, Isle of Man,England, assignor to Alan Tabor Limited, a company of Great Britain,Northern Ireland and Isle of Man Filed Feb. 18, 1965, Ser. No. 433,629 7Claims; (Cl. 248--465) This invention relates to struts and the like,such as brackets or easels of the kind, hereinafter termed the kindreferred to, used for supporting in an upright backwardly-inclinedposition, panel-like articles including display cards, plaques,photoframes, picture frames etc., which struts are stamped from sheetmaterial such as cardboard or card, and which are adapted to be securedin one way or another such as by an adhesive or stapling to the back ofthe panel-like article so that part of the strut may be flexed or hingedout to form a sloping leg or inclined stay. There are several knownforms 'of str'utsof the kind referred to.

One of the earliest known forms of such strut consists merely of a stripof card longer than its width, scored across to form a horizontal foldline, one part being intended to be secured to any panel-like article,such as the back panel of a display card, and the other to be bent outtherefrom about its hinged upper end to form an inclined stay orsupport.

In use however the support action of this form of strut depends upon thestay assuming and maintaining an intended predetermined angle ofinclination outwardly about its upper hinge relative to the said panel,and this result has usually been partially obtained by providing a tapeor cord to limit the separation of the free end of the stay from thepanel. Such arangement does not however prevent the return or foldingmovement of the stay, so that the article may thereby suddenly lose itssupport. Also, the operation of attaching a tie of any kind adds to thecost of production, however small, and in production the security ofattachment of such tie can be uncertain.

In another, and more recent, form of strut of the kind referred to it ismade from a single length of card of tapering shape, adapted to be bentabout horizontal fold lines to provide a middle portion intended to besecured to the panel to be supported, an upper portion adapted to bebent out and down through an obtuse angle of say 140 degrees to form thestay proper, and a lower portion adapted to be bent out and up throughabout 90 and its end engaged with a complementary slot to lock therewithand form a subsidiary stay and tie for the stay proper, such parts whenso arranged forming a substantially rigid triangulated structure.

The main disadvantage of such construction is that if the strut afterfixing to its panel, is left flat, the main stay portion necessarilyextends beyond the top of the panel, or if folded back, presents aresilient part which complicates the problem of packing. Suchconstruction also uses more card" than the previously known strut firstabove described, and the hinge bend is relatively ruptured.

Another known form of strut of the kind referred to and much in use hasone or more wing-like parts, adapted to be bent outwardly about avertical fold line, with some form of retaining means to hold it or themin the outwardly bent position against unintended folding back. The bestknown example of this form of strut however gives, from the rear, anunbalanced appearance, has its raw edges exposed and has a somewhatcomplicated locking mechanism formed out of the strip but which a laymanoften finds difi'icult to understand and manipulate and often damages orbreaks the locking member by bending the wrong way in erecting it. Innone of the aforesaid known constructions is there any movement limitprovided at the hinge.

The object of the present invention is to provide a simple movablesupplementary stay means formed in one part of the material of thestrut.

The expression clearly sensible limit is used herein to define a limitof flexure which can be sensed by immediate increase of resistance tofurther flexure while the expression bendably movable supplementary staymeans is used to define a part formed by partial cutting from aconvenient part of the strut so that it can be hingedly bent about afold line into such a position that it will act as a stay for the mainstay to hold the latter in position at the end of its initial angle offlexure.

The improved strut or the like as aforesaid may be further characterisedin that the hinge is formed by cutting partly through so as to leavecomplementary bevelled faces, the abutment of which on initial flexureacts like a rulejoint to give a sensible limit to hinging movement; orfurther characterised in that the strut is formed with a fold line andcut to provide a projection on the main stay part adapted by enagagementwith some adjacent part to provide the sensible fiexure limit; orfurther characterised by suspension means formed out of the material ofthe strut; or further characterised in that the hinge cut is ofdiscontinuous or broken formation.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation; and

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of one example of a strut made in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 2A is an enlarged partial side elevation of the strut in thecollapsed position; FIG. 2B is an enlarged partial side elevation of thestrut in the open position;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are views similar to FIGS. 1 and 2 showing another exampleof strut according to the invention;

FIGS. 5 to 8 show a further example of the invention, FIG. 8 being asection, to a larger scale, of a part of- FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 shows a modified form of the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 5 to8;

FIG. 10 shows a modification of FIG. 1.

As shownin FIGS. 1 and 2 the strut is illustrated attached to arectangular display card, the margins of which are indicated. The strutconsists of a strip of card having a central portion 10, a main stayportion 11 and an upper hanger extension 12. The central base portion 10is shown in FIG. 2 secured to the display card by a suitable adhesive.The several parts are defined by horizontal hinge cut/ scores which arecontinuous and 10b which may be continuous or, as shown, discontinuousor interrupted, both being shaped to produce complementary bevelfaces-and each having a short through cut as a part thereof to indicate,at the reverse of the strut, the region of glue application. In the mainstay 11 is formed a supplementary stay 13 which is formed in the samestamping operation by an inverted U-shaped through cut 13a and a hingecut 1311. In the upper part 12 is an aperture 12a the strut shown in bywhich the display card may be suspended if desired.

like the shoulders of a rule joint requiring the main stay portion 11 tobe slightly sprung so that the free end of the supplementary stay 13 ispressed against the back of the display card to hold it frictionally inposition.

In a modification, the upper hanging part 12 may be omitted, but whenprovided and as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 2 it may be hinged awayfrom the display card about the hinge line a to facilitate engagementwith a suspension means, or so that a suspending cord may be threadedtherethr-ough.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the strut consists of a main securing part 14surrounded by a frame-like hanger portion 15, and a main stay portion 16with interrupted horizontal hinge line cut 15a. The hanger portion cantherefore bend about the cut line 15a so that the overall length abovethe cut hinge line is shortened. In the main stay portion 16 is formedthe supplementary stay 17 in the same manner as described for theexample of FIGS.

1 and 2.

As shown in FIGS. 5 to 8 the stay before folding is in two main parts 18and 19 separated by a hinge line 20 and a through out 'which defines ahanger and stop 21. In the main stay portion 19 is formed asupplementary stay 22 in the same way as described for FIGS. 1 and 2,the said stay being formed with a blind score 23 in spaced paralleldisposition relative to the remote edge thereof. In the main part 18 isa slot 18a adapted to receive the free end of the supplementary stay 22,the slot presenting a detent member 18a for engagement with the blindscore 23 upon the assembly and erection of the strut. The hinge line 20is formed as an alternate cut and cut/score although a blind score orinterrupted through out could be used. It has been found that a cut oneither side of a score/ cut avoids or reduces the incidence ofdelamination in use.

In use, the two parts are folded back to back before the front of thepart 18 is secured by adhesive to the back of the display card. Thehanger 21 stands lightly clear of the back of the display card until themain stay is hinged outwardly as shown in FIG. 6 when it engages theback of the card so that the main stay and hanger have to be flexed toenable the supplementary stay 22 to be brought into position with itsfree end located in the slot 18a for security.

The embodiment of FIG. 9 differs from that shown in FIGS. 5 to 8 in thatthe detent 18a is more pronounced and in place of the score 23 there isa through hole 23a whilst the slot 18a is formed on a displaceabletongue formed integrally with the main part 18. In use the supplementarystay 22 is locked to the main part 18 by the engagement of the detent18a with the hole 23a thus to maintain the strut in an erected conditionagainst accidental dislodgement.

FIG. 10 shows a production layout for the strut shown in FIG. 1 to whichis added a double sided contact adhesive strip 106 laid as a continuousstrip prior to stamping out of the strut.

As can be appreciated from the above description and drawings, thesetting up of the strut is extremely simple. The stamping from card orsimilar material is a single operation and the overall size iseconomical in material and hence in packing and storage space. The rawor trailing edges of the cut to effect the stamping are, as distinctfrom some other struts, at the back of the strut when in position, witha consequent improved appearance. It is symmetrical in shape andtherefore easier to position when applying it to the display card orother article.

The invention is not restricted to the particular features of theembodiments hereinbefore described since alternatives will readilypresent themselves to one skilled in the art. For example, in theembodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, the hinges 10a may be formed not as acontinuous cut/score but as a series of blind s ores, two such s o esbeing formed in closely spaced disposition at the front face of thestrut and a third such score being formed at the rear face andintermediate those on the opposite face.

I claim:

1. A supporting strut of integral construction made of sheet materialfor panel-like articles such as easels and the like comprising anelongated stay having an upper portion constituting a base attached tothe back of said article, said stay having a lower portion constitutinga main stay, said portions being integrally hinged together, said hingeformed by at least one transverse partial through-cut of V-angle shapeto permit outward swinging movement of said main stay relative to saidarticle to close said V, a supplementary stay of tongue-like form cutfrom said main stay and hinged thereto by a partial transversethrough-cut, the length of said holding stay being such that when it ispressed against the back of said article the main stay is slightlysprung.

2. A supporting strut according to claim 1 characterized in that thefree end of said supplementary stay is held in an opening in said panel.

3. A supporting strut according to claim 1 characterized in that saidV-angle is so proportioned that the edges thereof engage before saidmain stay reaches its normal operative position as determined by saidsupplementary stay.

4. A supporting strut of integral construction made of sheet materialcomprising a base portion adapted to be secured to the back of apanel-like article to be supported in an upstanding backwardly inclinedposition, a stay portion hingedly connected to the top of said baseportion, the hinge being formed so as to permit bending said staythrough degrees at part only of the hinge line, a through-incision insaid main stay to form an attached holding stay on the said main stayportion adapted to engage the back of the article after an initial freehinging movement of the main stay and before such stay reaches itsnormal working position, and said holding stay formed in the stayportion adapted to engage the base portion to hold the main stay portionin such working position.

5. A supporting strut according to claim 4 characterised by a receivingaperture formed in the base portion to receive the free end of theholding stay.

6. A supporting strut according to claim 5 further characterised by atongue portion hingedly formed out of the base portion so as to bemovable outwardly therefrom to receive and engage the end of the holdingstay.

7. A supporting strut according to claim 6 further characterised in thatthe end of the holding stay and the receiving formation therefor in thetongue are shaped with complementary tongue and slot locking formations.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 527,694 10/1894 Jones 248-465825,053 7/1906 Hoag 248465 868,998 10/1907 Lang 248-465 1,082,27112/1913 Karp 248465 2,252,539 8/1941 Adams 156-212 2,976,631 3/1961Paschal 248-459 X 2,985,075 5/ 1961 Knutsson-Hall 93-36 3,275,280 9/1966Nichols 248-459 X 3,275,281 9/ 1966 Sampson 248-459 ,FOREIGN PATENTS16,202 1893 Great Britain.

ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner.

CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Examiner.

R, P. SEITTER, Assistant Examiner.

1. A SUPPORTING STRUT OF INTEGRAL CONSTRUCTION MADE OF SHEET MATERIALFOR PANEL-LIKE ARTICLES SUCH AS EASELS AND THE LIKE COMPRISING ANELONGATED STAY HAVING AN UPPER PORTION CONSTITUTING A BASE ATTACHED TOTHE BACK OF SAID ARTICLE, SAID STAY HAVING A LOWER PORTION CONSTITUTINGA MAIN STAY, SAID PORTIONS BEING INTEGRALLY HINGED TOGETHER, SAID HINGEFORMED BY AT LEAST ONE TRANSVERSE PARTIAL THROUGH-CUT OF V-ANGLE SHAPETO PERMIT OUTWARD SWINGING MOVEMENT OF SAID MAIN STRAY RELATIVE TO SAIDARTICLE TO CLOSE SAID V, A SUPPLEMENTARY STAY OF TONGUE-LIKE FORM CUTFROM SAID MAIN STAY AND HINGED THERETO BY A PARTIAL TRANSVERSE